A day after being completely outplayed, LSU put together its best performance of the season in a 7-0 win over Kentucky to even up the series and force a rubber game on Sunday.
William Schmidt and Zac Cowan combine on the shutout: The Tigers needed William Schmidt to shove, and the right-hander from Baton Rouge came through. Schmidt threw 5.1 shutout innings, scattering six hits and walking two. Only three strikeouts for Schmidt, but he got eight flyouts and lowered his ERA to 2.55.
Zac Cowan was even better out of the pen as he went 3.2 innings, allowing one hit, one walk, and striking out seven to lower his ERA to 4.38.
Cowan is back to his 2025 form after a slow start to this season, as he’s put together three straight appearances of scoreless baseball. His changeup is dancing again.
In the 8th inning, Kentucky had men on first and third with one out. But Cowan struck out the next two to get out of it.
His reemergence is a big story for this pitching staff.
Big day for Mason Braun: With LSU’s offense struggling, you are looking for someone to step up. Chase Dardar doubled three times on Friday, and on Saturday, he walked three times and scored twice.
But freshman designated hitter Mason Braun had the biggest swings. Braun had a two-out RBI double in the 2nd inning. In the 4th inning, Braun launched a three-run blast to make it 5-0.
Braun came into the game hitting .234 with one home run and 8 RBIs. After Saturday’s performance, Braun is now hitting .255 with 2 home runs and 12 RBIs and will likely be in the line-up again on Sunday.
Defense was better: LSU did not commit an error in Friday’s loss, but they failed to make several plays in the field in that 7-4 loss.
On Saturday, LSU committed two errors, but they were not costly. Catcher Omar Serna had a throwing error in the first inning, trying to throw out a runner stealing second base. Derek Curiel also failed to field a single that allowed a runner to get an extra base.
But there were two big double plays. In the fourth inning, to erase a lead-off walk, and in the fifth inning, Jake Brown threw out a runner at home trying to score on a fly ball.
Up Next: Big game on Sunday as LSU attempts to win its first SEC series as they take on Kentucky at noon.
Gavin Guidry is a good bet to pitch on Sunday, since he could possibly go four or five innings.
Kentucky will send junior left-hander Ben Cleaver to the hill. He’s 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA in 18. 1 innings, 12 walks, and 24 strikeouts.
